Pathedy of Manners Ellen Kay

Class Notes

Appropriate TitleComedy of manners satirizes social

behaviourTragedy dramatizes sudden “fall” from

high to low estate of a protagonist of heroic stature

-neither category fits but combination works:

“Pathedy of Manners” concerns pathetic waste of life and talent by a woman whose false values made her prefer appearance to substance and choose manners over merit

Poem presents social pathologyBrilliant, beautiful woman wasted

her gifts on inauthentic goalsInstead of contributing to

humanity, she chose to shine in fashionable society

Allowed fashionable opinion (“cultured jargon”) to govern her artistic tastes rather than forming independent judgment

Verbal IronyMade “ideal” marriage (married

man with impeccable social credentials)

Had “ideal” (well-behaved, well-dressed, clean) but lonely children

Live in an “ideal” (fashionably situated and well-appointed) house

Mid-age crisis43 years old-husband dead, children grown-reevaluating her life and

regretting that it has not been more meaningful

Toys with idea of taking new direction, but it is too late

Double Meaning“kill time” (19)Would like to destroy time lost

since her college years, but can only waste time by dreaming of doing so

Her dream of taking up lost opportunity is an illusion, and she can only “re-wed” these illusions

Course of ActionShe can’t pursue independent

course of action, she can only fend off “doubts” (about the value of her present life) with “nimble talk”

-a hundred socially elite acquaintances call on her, but she is without a single intimate friend

Poem Ending – Pun and Paradox“Her meaning lost in manners,

she will walk / Alone in brilliant circles to the end.”

In true intimacy she will be alone, although she will move in brilliant social circles to the end of her life

In meaningful living she will walk in circles till the end of her life, not advance along a line of significant purpose

Point of ViewThe speaker is probably a college

classmate of the protagonist, who has seen her the day before, roughly a quarter-century after their first acquaintance

This meeting has caused the narrator to reflect on the protagonist’s life